Tag: Marketing

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The Evolution of YouTube; Dipping Toes in the Subscription Model

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I wrote today on Quora about YouTube, and wanted to share my article. It’s all about YouTube and how they’ve moved from ad-based to subscription … and it’s not a pretty picture for the average user!

Blame YouTube music videos!

The original question was … Why is Google’s YouTube increasing a number of ads shown per each video and what is your opinion?

The Answer

Because after many years building the company based on giving everything away for free, supported by advertising (which worked well, creating a trillion dollar company) … Google is finally creating a subscription model.

Here’s The Background

YouTube is a video website.

It’s in the name – You-”Tube”

But there’s music on there. In fact, you’ll find what you’re looking for on YouTube when you can’t find it on Spotify or anywhere else. YouTube didn’t do this, the users did – they contributed James Taylor’s album discography without asking anyone’s permission, using still images of the album cover. At first the users were told, NO you can’t upload that! But a few years ago, YouTube started talking with artists and managers, Continue reading “The Evolution of YouTube; Dipping Toes in the Subscription Model”

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The Greatest President in US History Launches Two Major Websites

Donald Trump,
The Greatest President in US History

The website Disrn announces today “Donald and Melania Trump launch the official website of the 45th President of the United States. The site, 45office.com, is intended to allow supporters to keep in touch with the former first couple, request participation in public events, and gather general information on Trump’s presidency.”

Disrn says “Though the current features on the website are somewhat limited, it is possible that the site may offer a central hub for Trump to communicate and issue statements and commentaries on current events following his ban from social media.”

Meanwhile, Trump is also setting up his own social media site, to directly compete with Facebook and Twitter, both of which have censorship based foundations. Huffpost joined the Boston Globe Continue reading “The Greatest President in US History Launches Two Major Websites”

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The Free World Supports Donald Trump, While The City That Never Sleeps … Sleeps!

Welcome to 2021 my friends!

You are not alone.

These posts speak for themselves!

As Americans watch a domestic Congressional election and anticipate someone being chosen as US President, the world is also on the edge, and crowds have been gathering to show support for Donald Trump. In many countries he’s considered a savior from an otherwise-inevitable fall to socialism and communism.

Thanks to Nicholas Clamorgan (@Nick_Clamorgan) for his post “The Free World supports @realDonaldTrump!” which is what led us Continue reading “The Free World Supports Donald Trump, While The City That Never Sleeps … Sleeps!”

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Sales Advice, My Time at TowerStream

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What do the best salespeople know that the rest of us don’t?

– Mark Urso, former Sales & Engineering at Towerstream

Quora outtake:

I was in the top 3 of a 200-member sales team for four years, and won the President’s Club trophy for highest sales, at TowerStream, selling Internet services, business-to-business. I was also at the same company only a few years earlier, Continue reading “Sales Advice, My Time at TowerStream”

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Winter Apple Blues (or, How to Spin a Healthy Controversy)

a cat in a bowl shaped like a fish with an apple

The latest from my kitchen is, I have some new apples. This news is similar to previous reports from the kitchen, but although I have new apples frequently, it’s still news.

These new apples are organic. I didn’t read the details, but they’re different than just a regular apple.

First, they come in a plastic bag with graphics, and it says “organic” in big letters; there’s even a fancy plastic bag zipper. Second, they are smaller than regular apples. These organic apples have little holes in them, and are also less shiny and good-looking than regular apples.

Oh, and they cost more.

So, they’re organic. In order to learn more, I pretended to have a conversation with Lou Johnson, President of the Organic Apple Association, a watchdog group that protects the organic apple industry from unfair trade practices. Lou lives in Texas “off the grid,” in a small camper.

Continue reading “Winter Apple Blues (or, How to Spin a Healthy Controversy)”

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Cox, Lies and Videotape (or, How To Advertise Like The Big Blue Boys)

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Verizon has an ad on TV where they say “The fastest Internet available.” That’s what they are, pretty much anywhere in the U.S., but particularly if you can be connected via FIOS fiber.

So, in the world of advertising, in a case like this … how could an entity who’s a competitor position himself? What kinds of things might he say?

Cox is a cable provider in New England, who has this relationship to Verizon. The company has a decent product, but nevertheless has no idea how to promote it. Continue reading “Cox, Lies and Videotape (or, How To Advertise Like The Big Blue Boys)”

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Big Money Ads! (or, Creative With Reptiles)

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Happy Holidays!

I thought I’d write an aricle making fun of television commercials during the Christmas (and football) season! Then something odd happened … on a few levels!

Who likes insurance companies? And on top of that, who likes commercials that don’t have anything to say … like insurance company commercials? When you think, they have so much money they can produce high-end commercials that don’t need to sell anything – that don’t say much about the product … who likes that?

statue of libertyLiberty has a big statue behind the actor, who’s acting often seems like “just complaining” for 30 seconds … but at least they score big in name recognition.

The problem with many insurance company commercials is they don’t brand strongly, especially the “funny” ones where you don’t know what the ad is for (also true for “a-loud-song-with moving-pictures” ads). Continue reading “Big Money Ads! (or, Creative With Reptiles)”

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Newtonian Economics in 21st-c. America (or, What’s Smarter than a Phone?)

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Apple invented the smartphone, when it morphed a glorified Sony Walkman, the iconic iPod, into a telephone.

Now, the phone is (almost) the part you don’t need, and the pod has become a proper little pad. A little iPad – like the iPad’s little brother. But the little pad is a phone, still … for now.

Through the company’s long history Apple has invented many cool things. But not many new ones lately.

The bubble has burst … the game tilted.

GET READY TO PLAY!

It’s a good time to stop and look at where we are! Continue reading “Newtonian Economics in 21st-c. America (or, What’s Smarter than a Phone?)”

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Craigslist – The Great Poker Game

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I’ve mentioned the dinosaurs walking Earth, eBay and Amazon. But what about Craigslist? Is it even worth a mention? What’s it all about, and why isn’t it in the news until someone gets busted when a personal massage goes wildly wrong?

Craigslist must not be important. Ebay would have bought it, or Google by now. It’s just an anomaly, floating out there with no big impact …

craigslist logo green

Or is it? On the outside Craiglist is a public place, but on the inside it’s very private. Craigslist is not, as its dot-org suggests, non-profit. Continue reading “Craigslist – The Great Poker Game”

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A Few Newthings (or, Amazon’s More Expensive No Advantage Program)

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I have canceled Amazon Advantage!

It’s a seller backend service. Without missing a beat, upon sending the message through their system to close it – I immediately lost all access. They should send me my products back now.

Amazon Advantage is for larger companies that have a logistics department. For me, a small seller, joining just resulted in me having to ship products to Amazon at my own expense with NO increased sales, despite Amazon’s effort to improve the visibility of those products. Continue reading “A Few Newthings (or, Amazon’s More Expensive No Advantage Program)”